Angel Food Cake from Scratch

I recently made an angel food cake from scratch for the first time. Granted, it is not as easy as the boxed mix, but it has better flavor and I was amazed how light mine turned out. Angel food cakes take a ton of egg white and are a good way to use up egg whites stored from recipes that call for yolks. It is also high in protein, since the protein is found in the white of the egg. Another bonus to angel food cake is that there is no fat in it. So it is a sugary alternative to people wanting to watch fat intake. Although it will make a heavier cake, whole wheat flour can be substituted for the white flour.



Rebecca’s Favorite Angel Food Cake


12 eggs
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar


1. Separate eggs; discard yolks or refrigerate for another use. Measure egg whites, adding or removing whites as needed to equal 1-1/2 cups. 
2. Place in a mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, sift confectioners' sugar and flour together three times; set aside. Add cream of tartar, extracts and salt to egg whites; beat on high speed. Gradually add sugar, beating until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form. Fold in flour mixture, 1/4 cup at a time. 
4. Gently spoon into an ungreased 10-in. tube pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets. 
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately invert pan; cool completely upside-down before removing cake from pan.

Effectively Sharing the Gospel With Tracts

A gospel tract is a simple and fairly effective method of sharing the gospel. The are easy to obtain and easy to give to sales clerks, waitresses, and people one crosses paths with while out and about. Sadly, a lot of Christians have ruined the effectiveness of this method of sharing the gospel, by not paying a tip and leaving a tract instead, or leaving tracts in places where a custodian is going to have to pick them up. 

I like to keep several things in mind when using a gospel tract.

#1-Keep it personal. Hand tracts to a person-do not leave it in a public bathroom, waiting room, or lobby for someone to have to discard. It is not only a rude, but cowardly and impersonal method of sharing the gospel.

#2-Don't just pass out gospel tracts like candy. The message of the gospel is personal and sacred and should be accompanied with a personal and friendly conversation-not just passed to a sales clerk with the comment "this is of you" (I have been guilty of doing) without any further conversation. If the gospel means something to us, it should not be passed off carelessly.

#3-Choose good tracts. There are a lot of tacky and un-scriptural tracts available. A catchy phrase is not what sharing the gospel is about. Make sure the tract is not only biblicaly sound, but does not try to scare a person into salvation. True salvation only comes by a person being repentant of sins, not simply afraid to go to hell. I make sure the tracts I use focus on man's depravity and need of a Savior, not on hell-fire and damnation.

#4-Prayer-I don't just hand out tracts to anyone and everyone without being assured that the Lord is leading. I accompany each tract with prayer before giving it to anyone and after giving it to someone. 

#5-A major reason I don't like to be liberal at passing out gospel tracts is because very often there is no way to follow up with a person after the tract has been given. I sold a name-brand cosmetic for some time and found that getting a phone number and asking if you can call in a few days and see what the costumer thought of the product was an unobtrusive way to get costumer feedback. I see no problem with carrying this into sharing the gospel. If I am genuinely concerned for a person's soul, I should be willing to follow up with them. 

Favorite Gospel Tracts: Bridge Illustration/Romans Road

Recently, I completed a simple gospel tract sharing our family's testimony. I have been given several personal tracts from friends, and have found that they are probably my favorite type of tract. Not only are they personal, but you can give it to a person after they have seen you and it generally intrigues them far more than a standard tract. I greatly encourage every person/family to spend the time to create their own tract. 

Sweet and Sour Chicken

There is something magical about combine two opposite ingredients like sweet and salty or sweet and sour. I have made several different versions of sweet and sour chicken, but this recipe is the #1 choice out of all of my experiments. It is not only delicious, but the chicken is not deep fried like most other recipes. I thought the chicken would not be as tasty since it was not breaded and deep-fried, but to my surprise, this version of sweet and sour chicken is better than restaurant style or deep-fried. It was worth the sharing.

Rebecca’s Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

  

For the Chicken:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts,

cut into chunks

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, slightly beaten

¼ cup canola or vegetable oil

For the Sauce:

¾ cup sugar

4 tablespoons ketchup

½ cup vinegar (preferably rice or white)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

(I often double the sauce)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper.

3. Working in two batches, toss the chicken pieces in cornstarch and then coat with the egg. Heat the oil over medium-high heat and again in two batches, brown the chicken, turning it so that all sides are browned.

4. Place the chicken in a single layer in a 9×13 baking dish.

5. Whisk together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and pour evenly over the chicken. Turn the chicken to ensure each piece is coated.

6. Bake for 1 hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.

Cheap and Easy Grape Jelly

Yesterday I canned 8 pints of grape jelly. I averaged that each pint cost about $1.80 to make. A store brand jar of jelly can cost About $2-2.50 so I was pleased to make jelly for less.

Bring 14 cups of grape juice to a boil for 5 minutes
Mix in 4 cups of sugar
Mix 2 boxes of "no sugar needed" pectin with 3 cups of sugar, gradually stir into boiling mixture
Boil mixture 5 minutes


Test jelly for consistency by cooling a spoonful of it to room temperature-if it is jelly-like in consistency, the jelly will be good, otherwise boil minute by minute and continue testing until it does set up to the desired consistency.


Pour into cleaned canning or jelly jars up to 1/8" from top. Place canning jar lids in hot water for 3 minutes and place on top of jars, then screw on lids. 


Boil the jars with hot water covering the lids for 5 minutes
Remove from heat, wait for the seals to pop, cool, label, and store


If a jar does not seal, it can be stored in the refrigerator indefinitely.

Whole Wheat Bread: I finally did it!

After over a year a failed attempts to make home-made 100%whole wheat bread, I am thrilled to announce that I finally made a perfect loaf yesterday. 

Problem 1: I don't have a grinder and had used a coffee grinder and blender to mill my berries. The result of the blend was a very course flour which was too heavy for making good bread. 

Solved: A friend with a grinder graciously milled the berries for me and that resulted in a fine, soft flour.

Problem 2: I was using red wheat berries which are heavier and more dense than white wheat.

Solved: Switched to white wheat which made my bread more moist and it rose better.

Problem 3: The yeast I was using was a regular baking yeast I bought in bulk. It simply did not have the strength to get the bread to a good rise.

Solved: I switched to SAF (a brand name) yeast that has more active cultures. Instead of taking all day to rise, my bread rose in 20 minutes and baked beautifully!

Problem 4: I worked with several recipes and formulas to come up with a moist, tasty loaf of bread, some were dry and crumbles, some were too heavy, others were simply bland in flavor. 

Solved: I found a recipe that worked and tasted phenomenal.

Problem 5: Kneading is vital to bring out gluten and softness in wheat bread. I found over-kneading caused me to add too much flour, making a hard loaf, while under-kneading made a dry unconnected loaf.

Solved: 10 minutes kneading in my Kitchen-Aid mix-master is the perfect amount.

Rebecca’s Honey Sweetened Whole Wheat Bread

1 1/4 cups warm water (110-120 degrees)

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup oil

1 5/8 cups whole wheat flour (freshly ground)

1T vital wheat gluten (optional)

1 T saf instant yeast

1/2 T salt

1 egg

5-6 cup whole wheat flour

1. In an electric mixer with a dough hook, combine water, oil, honey, the initial 1 5/8 cups flour, vital wheat gluten (opt), yeast, and salt.

2. Mix until fully combined, and then let it sit for 10 minutes.

3. After 10 minutes, it should have risen a little, so mix the mixture again and then add in the egg and additional 6 cups flour (more or less) and mix until the dough is not sticky (tacky) and all the flour is mixed in well.

4. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, and the dough, at this point, should look smooth

5. Put in well greased pan and then let dough rise until fully raised. 

7. Put bread into a COLD oven (not preheated), and turn on the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 35 minutes.

8. When it comes out, you can put butter on the top of it. 

Making Pantry Products

From cleaning supplies and detergents to baked goods and foods, I have been asking myself if I can make that particular item for cheaper and if it can be better than the purchased product. So far, I have saved a considerable amount of money by doing so. I have come to the conclusion that if an item can be purchased, it can be made. However, not every home-made product I have tried is as effective as the store-bought item. So, then I ask myself if I can do without that item. By doing without, I have eliminated various items from our grocery bill and saved money. 

Recently, I have made a few kitchen products that have proved to be good alternatives to their store bought counterparts.


Brown Sugar
Mix 1 T. molasses per 1 cup sugar


Cooking Spray
Mix 1/2 c. water with 1/4 c. olive oil and blend with a stick blender
(note: used distilled or boiled water to kill bacteria and store in the refrigerator)


Oat Flour
Blend whole oats in a blender or coffee maker


Balsamic Vinaigrette
Mix balsamic vinegar with various herbs and olive oil


Buttermilk
1 T. Vinegar to 1 Cup milk


Yogurt
See article:
http://www.thehomeexecutiveoffice.blogspot.com/2012/04/yogurthas-many-health-benefits.html


Stock and Broths
See article:
http://www.thehomeexecutiveoffice.blogspot.com/2012/01/canning-chicken-stock.html


Baby Food
See Article:
http://www.thehomeexecutiveoffice.blogspot.com/2012/01/making-baby-food.html

Encouraging Verbal Skills

As a disclaimer, I am not writing this article presuming to be an expert on teaching verbal communication to a child. These are some tips I have learned from other people and personal experience. When our first daughter was born over a year ago, my husband and I discussed whether or not to teach her sign language. We choose not to, because we have known some children who learned sign language and it slowed down their verbal communication because the need to speak was not as urgent to them. Also, we thought that although she may be able to communicate through sign language with Mom and Dad, almost anyone we got to watch her would't be aware of what she was saying. So, we decided to focus on encouraging verbal communication. After a year, our daughter communicates very well with knowing just a few words. 


One of the first phrases I taught Emma was "all done" I would emphasis that we were "all done" when she is through with eating, bathing, and diaper changes-she now uses that word whenever she is done with anything. It has been most helpful-instead of fussing-she will say "done" or "all done"


I read articles about how to encourage little ones to speak. And came up with a few helpful tips that we have implemented in our home.


1. Carry on conversations with her. I make it a point to keep Emma part of the communication at mealtimes and throughout the day. Rather than talking about her, I try to talk with her. I interpret her sounds and carry on conversations with her-even if they are majorly one sided. 


2. Respond. This is not the time to teach a child not to interrupt. Welcome interruptions. If Emma talks, I hear and answer. Even if it is "mommy can't help you right now" or "just a minute." I don't ignore her comments, but let her know that whatever she says is heard. Right now, her interruptions in adult conversation are very short, so I consider them more important than the current conversation I am carrying on with someone else. Eventually, she will learn not to interrupt.



3. Ditch the pacifier. I personally don't have a problem with a pacifier. In fact they have been proven to help reduce the risk of SIDS. We give Emma a pacifier for sleeping only. Throughout the day, she does not need it. It has been nice, because she is not strongly attached to it, and she is much more talkative without something in her mouth.


4. Transition from a bottle to a straw or adult cup. A lot of speech therapists agree that if a child does not learn how to use his tongue in other motions besides sucking, it slows down speech development. A child who can drink from a straw or cup, can learn how to use their tongue in different speech patterns much more quickly than a child who only drink with a bottle or sippy cup with a sucking motion. A cup or straw is a bit more messy, but it has been helpful for Emma to learn to use various types of motions for drinking.



5. Read. All educationalists agree that reading is key in building language skills. Emma has learned so much about the world of words from books. She can relate various words to images through reading. I like to spend a good hour or more every day reading books with her. Also, I make it a point to stop whatever I am doing if she brings me a book. It takes only a couple minutes to go though a child's book and taking advantage of that teachable moment is vital.


6. Repetition of the same words in various circumstances. I try to use the same words she knows to communicate with her. For instance, one of the first words she learned was "Dada" It didn't take long for me to be able to tell her "Dada's coming home!" She gets excited and heads for the door or window if I tell that to her now. She can also understand if I tell her "Take it to Dada" or "where is "Dada?" She now says "all done." I would use that phrase whenever she was done eating or done with a diaper change. Now I am using it to communicate picking up toys. As I am encouraging her to help put toys away, I use the words "all done" over and over. I want her to understand that when we are done playing with toys, we don't leave them on the floor, but put them away. 


7. Be simple, clear, and precise. Professional public speakers know that effective communication begins with being clear. When teaching new words to a child, the same principle applies. Although a baby may say "bubb..bbb" instead of the word "bubbles," it is important not to use the baby's form of speech to communicate. A baby understands the word spoken correctly, and to encourage it otherwise-no matter how cute it is, is in essence teaching a child that his way is the correct way to say the word. Some babies use baby talk and sounds and cannot be communicated with as a result. Using simple words is also advantageous. Emma does not need to know that the bird hopping on the grass is a robin and the bird on the roof is a crow. At her age, she simply needs to understand that they are both birds. When she can master that concept, we will discuss various kinds of birds.


8. Enunciate. Sometimes little ones don't learn how to say words correctly, because we don't say a word correctly ourselves. When teaching a child a new word, make sure to emphasize the sounds of each word. I try to do this especially in reading books and pointing out objects in the world. I try to emphasis d's and t's instead of letting words slip out of my mouth without them. 

9. Make silly sounds. Emma has learned to use her mouth in many ways simply because Jim and I make silly sounds with our mouth to her. We hiss, blow raspberries, click, and growl when playing with her. We also make faces at her-puff up our cheeks and stick out our tongues. She thinks those sounds and faces are great, and mimics them. Unknowingly she is adding to her language skills.


10. Loving words. This is my personal addition because I know all parents show affection differently to their children. Jim and I are both the cuddly and verbal commutators of love to each other and our children. I tell Emma over and over that "I love her." I want her to know that things are well between me and her. After discipline, it is especially important to restore loving fellowship with a child. I don't want her to avoid me because she thinks I am mad at her or because she is upset. So, even at her young age, I endeavor to keep the lines of communication open-all the time.